If you picked up the Legendary Pack for Astellia Online, then launch day is tonight for you, as the headstart begins at 8 p.m. EDT. Owners of other packs will be trickling in over the course of the week, with Platinum packs on the 23rd, Gold packs on the 26th, and everyone else on the 27th. As we’ve noted, the game is buy-to-play, though lookie-loos may want to try the the optional $10 subscription for a month starting next week instead. Barunson’s posted the official schedule, along with the pre-order claim instructions, on the official site to keep everyone in the loop.
Astellia is a Korean import that’s received large updates to accommodate the western market, including the un-gender-locking of its characters and a de-pay-to-win process in the cash shop. MOP’s Eliot penned impressions during the closed beta, finding it decent enough for folks who are into Korean MMOs. “It sure as heck isn’t the sort of legendary disaster common to recent releases, and it arguably reaches the point of being outright fun,” he wrote. “But for a new MMO you could do a lot worse, and I had fun playing it. I expect to have more fun when it launches. It has issues, but it seems to have an eye toward fixing those issues with an understanding of why they’re issues.”
You can get caught up on all our coverage of Astellia since its time as Nexon’s Korea-only darling right here – in addition to our impressions of the beta, we conducted several interviews and checked out the game’s music.
• Astellia Online patches in a quest merge and a difficulty adjustment that wasn’t meant to be in-game yet
• Perfect Ten: MMOs I’m optimistic about in 2020
• Astellia Online seems to be getting positive buzz following its Steam launch
• Astellia Online is working on a fix for the Steam DLC configuration that’s making refunds impossible
• Interview: Barunson on the state of Astellia Online as it launches on Steam today
• Astellia Online plans January 30 Steam launch, teases future western content as Korean version sunsets
• Perfect Ten: The MMOs with the most uncertain futures at the start of 2020
• Astellia Online update brings legendary dungeons and spidery events
• Hope rising: Astellia Online is hiring more community managers
• The best Massively OP streams of 2019
• Massively OP’s 2019 MMO Video Game Music Awards
• Astellia Online welcomes players to Snow Valley, begins free trial weekends
• Astellia reaffirms commitment to western version, may even rescue Korean players
• Dang, Astellia Online is sunsetting in its native South Korea
• Astellia Online’s Miodan Mines patch is live today with a new newbie quest too
• Massively Overthinking: Gratitude for the MMO genre
• Astellia’s content roadmap touts a PvP battleground, new zones, new dungeons, and Astel equipment
• Astellia Online promises Avalon this month and a new zone in December
• Astellia Online’s newest patch adds in a new Astel for fighting dragons
• Astellia Online is free to play again this weekend starting November 1
• Astellia adds a hard cap to Astel ranks while adjusting acquisition rates
• Astellia Online runs a pair of free trial weekends
• Astellia Online tasks players with hunting candy for the Great Candy King
• Astellia Online confirms it will be hosting a Halloween event
• Astellia Online is opening up a fresh EU server today
• Astellia Online’s class evolution system is now live
• Ask Mo: Second chances, hate wagons, and the MMORPG grudge game
• Astellia Online offers hefty compensation package to preorder players
• Astellia Online just got its first downtime and patch since launch
• Astellia players clash over the perks of new post-launch founder packs
• Astellia Online formally launches tomorrow night – here’s what to expect
• Interview: ArcheAge Unchained’s Merv Lee Kwai on housing, RMT, and the future of the game
• Second impressions: Astellia Online’s launch version is a solidly average MMO
• The next phase of Astellia Online’s head-start begins tonight
• The Stream Team: Ambling into Astellia Online’s head start
• Leaderboard: Astellia Online vs Archeage Unchained
• Astellia Online offers $10 subscription as an alternative to buy-to-play
• Astellia Online demos two gender-unlocked classes: the lady Warrior and Assassin
• Astellia Online is launching on September 27 – here’s what to expect
• Check out how Astellia Online’s gems and loyalty points work in CBT2
• Astellia Online offers a video overview of the features waiting in its second closed beta
• Astellia Online details the mechanics for its Avalon battlefield
• Astellia Online’s second closed beta test slated to begin on July 30
• Astellia invites you to enter the Colosseum in its latest trailer and heads for its next closed beta
• First impressions: Astellia is acceptable – not astonishing, but certainly not atrocious
• The Stream Team: A first look at Astellia’s closed beta
• Astellia’s first closed beta has officially begun today – here’s the trailer
• Astellia previews plans for next week’s closed beta, preloading begins tomorrow
• Interview: Astellia’s westernization covers everything from monetization and VO to dodging and grouping
• Astellia addresses community concerns over pre-order items and game balance
• MMORPG Astellia launches preorders, plans June closed beta, and rejects gender-locking
• Astellia’s gear can level up with you – or de-level if you are a failure
• Exclusive: MMORPG Astellia Online deep-dives its Warrior and Scholar classes
• Jukebox Heroes: The best of Astellia’s soundtrack
• Interview: Astellia deep-dives its dungeon systems and Western tweaks
• Astellia provides a general rundown of its crafting system
• Astellia shows off its character creation options
• Exclusive: Upcoming MMORPG Astellia Online deep-dives its skill systems
• Astellia confirms it’ll be buy-to-play in the west, won’t be a ‘smash-and-grab’
• South Korean MMO Astellia is coming westward in 2019, vows to steer clear of P2W
• Astellia’s Korean beta update adds Avalon battlefield and legendary dungeons
• Nexon previews MMOs including Astellia Online and Mabinogi Mobile ahead of G-Star
• Astellia Online proves that MMOs and TCGs can coexist in harmony
• Nexon is bringing a truckload of MMORPGs to G-Star this year
Massively OP’s MJ will be courageously attempting to stream the headstart tonight at 8 p.m. on OPTV; if all goes well with the launch, you can watch along!
The way they implement the payments for installment method which they already knew the outcome that the founder packs milking is not that enough.
a bless online type game with a subscription … i smell trap :x
At £100 I don’t think so. ALL the packs are over priced for what this game is.
Nope. It doesn’t look awful, but not really interested unless I hear some strong reviews.
Although, that doesn’t seem to be all too promising from the anecdotes below. :(
Pass. Played the betas. The combat is linear and stale. Its a very visually polished game but the gameplay content is much more like early 2000s games. Like a loli-skinned WoW. It just isn’t fun.
It might still be a hard sell to get me to play it again even if it wasn’t b2p/p2p
I made it almost 2 hours in and that was enough. Not for me regardless of the business model.
But everyone has diff tastes and if it fills a void for someone then I hope it lasts.
The astethics does not resonate with me. Also, too much hot bars.
I played a bit of the open beta. I’ll probably play this when it’s available without the pre-order price tag. Paying a premium for early access really isn’t worth it any more.
It will also be buy to play at release.
Which, if I’ve seen it correctly, is $9.99. Not the $30 the pre-order went for (or 60 or 100, take your pick). That’s an okay price if I’m just going to satisfy my curiosity.
That’s the price for a monthly subscription. If that expires you’re locked out. Unless you pay 30$ to buy the game.
Not really, i’m watching other people playing it, while i grind an Event in Champions Online.
Nope.
City of Heroes AND as I just finished Legend of Grimrock last night so I have picked back up Enderal.
BRING ME A NICE CRISP PIECE OF MEAT!BRING ME A NICE CRISP PIECE OF MEAT!BRING ME A NICE CRISP PIECE OF MEAT!BRING ME A NICE CRISP PIECE OF MEAT!
is anyone even gonna play this?
Sure for like 2 days then…it’s just a countdown to shutdown